Before dialing the first number on the referral list, she stared at it. She had never asked for help like this and didn’t know how to begin. Once the call happened, there would be no returning to the man she once planned to marry. That much, she did know.
“I sat there for the longest time, that piece of paper in my hand, not knowing if I should call or not,” the woman said. “All I knew is that I had to make sure my (children were) OK, that we were OK, and that we were going to be OK for awhile.”
For her own safety and that of her children, this person did not want to be identified by name. She is not from this area, which is why she sought refuge here through Peace Place.

A trained employee with the agency, which serves Barrow, Jackson and Banks counties, answered the woman’s call. Such talks are often the first point of contact between people in danger and help, employees with Peace Place explained.

The discussions lead to any number of different strategies aimed at assisting women, mainly, who are threatened by someone with whom they reside. This person could be a spouse, partner or family member. The abuse could be verbal or physical. The worst-case scenario could be death.

The best resolutions resemble the woman’s: she fled with Peace Place’s help and established a violence-free life and home for her and her children.

“The very first thing I ask is, ‘Are you in immediate danger? Are you in a safe location,’” explained Brittany Shubert, who answers the crisis line as part of her job at Peace Place. “Then I usually say, ‘Tell me about your situation.’ And it usually goes from there.”

The nonprofit last year handled 1321 calls and 343 cases through its outreach services, which can encompass a host of provisions such as support groups, help with protective orders or even financial assistance for travel.

Peace Place also sheltered 100 women and 98 children at its Barrow location, in other transitional housing, and in some cases, emergency hotel accommodations.

The total caseload increased from 2010, with all but the number of crisis calls rising by 100 or more.

While it’s unclear why the numbers have grown — be it more awareness about Peace Place, population shifts or, simply, a greater tendency toward abuse and violence — the impact to the agency’s budget is plain.

Peace Place is grappling with the challenge of delivering more services while tightening its budget, one that’s been pinched in recent years by cutbacks. The agency operates on $650,000-$700,000 a year, executive director Shannon Willis-Clark said, with just under 50 percent of that total coming from state funds and grants.

The total budget is down more than $100,000 from several years ago, she said, adding that staff members were eliminated as part of that downsizing.

The reality has put more pressure on local sources of funding and charity, including area churches, which Willis-Clark credits especially as helping the agency handle its growing needs. Peace Place’s thrift store, located at 339 Highway 82 in Jefferson, is another major source of funding, she added.

Fundraisers — including this weekend’s Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball and the annual campaign in October — help make up the difference, as well, with the money from local businesses and residents providing the agency with the range to cover expenses, the director explained.

“When the economy hits and hits really hard, it really crunches,” Willis-Clark said. “The staff are often secured through grants, they can’t just be let go. We typically make about $20,000 on the ball. The bonus about this money is that it is unrestricted funds for us. And that really helps (give us) flexibility to shift that money around when needed.”

She used a recent donation of toilet paper, enough to cover a year for the shelter, as an example of a cost that otherwise would have been assumed by Peace Place’s operational funds. Now that money can be redirected to another cost that may arise with a crisis call at any moment.

“When you shelter a hundred people you go through a lot and that helps,” she said. “It all adds up.”

Despite funding challenges, she and other leaders at Peace Place continue to strategize ways to expand services.

Using social media, including Facebook and Twitter, as a means of communication is a critical tool, the director said, since the vast majority of cases come from victims who call Peace Place through a referring partner like area sheriff’s offices.

Strengthening Peace Place’s five-year-old outreach services — what Willis-Clark calls the “bread and butter of our programs” — is another aim. She envisions individual staff members assigned specifically to Banks and Jackson counties, places where a lot of calls are made yet not a lot of follow-up takes place on the victims’ end.

Willis-Clark indicated a pattern of suburban sprawl has impacted rates of domestic violence in Jackson County, where 12 people were killed as a result of domestic violence between 2004-2009.

“That’s why we say it takes a community to make a difference,” Willis-Clark said, again referring to local churches and officers as key figures when it comes to referring possible victims to Peace Place.

“There are success stories,” Willis-Clark said. “For every one fatality, there are five to six that we know were helped.”

It’s a facet of the job those with Peace Place have to hold onto when they join other agencies in studying why and how domestic violence deaths occurred after each tragic case.

Cheryl Brown, legal advocate and outreach coordinator at Peace Place, works with women and some men who want to know their options, need help fleeing or want to file temporary protective orders in court. Sometimes the work she does amounts to action; sometimes it does not.

“Our main objection is safety,” Brown said. “We recommended a plan. They choose to do what they want to do.”

What troubles her, at times, is realizing some victims opt to do nothing at all, though they reach out or recognize that help exists. This is a pattern she sees in Banks County, especially.

“There is a different mindset in Banks County,” Brown said. “They will call for help but they never follow through.”

She discussed the challenge by telephone as she drove to her standard Banks County support group meeting. Chances are no one would show up, Brown said. Yet the calls keep coming from women in Banks who need help.

“We want to be there so that if they do show up, we’re there,” Brown said. “All they want sometimes is someone to be supportive, to listen and understand what they need to do, then they can take that step. Sometimes they just need to know they could make it, they have the power to move and understand that, ‘Yes, I can.’ ”

Does anyone not find it a conflict of interest when the Peace Place advertises on the front page of the Jackson Herald that they are having a Cash Bar at a fundraising event when statistically speaking a large percentage of Domestic Violence cases against women are Alcohol related? Just saying! Doesn't seem like they are really thinking on this one not to mention that they solicit the help and donations of local churches to fund their mission. Not sure if too many of the churches would appreciate that! Looks like someone should investigate the motive of whoever seems to be running that organization because it seems twisted!

No! A cash bar at a fundraising for peace place is in no way twisted. They need help from any donations they can get, whether it be volunteering, cash donations or fundraisers. Peace Place does not recieve ENOUGH credit or public attention for what they do. The people they help is worth a lot more than a slur on whether this cash bar was appropriate or not. I would buy 20 drinks from a cash bar if it meant a child could lay down at night in peace without fear. Instead of wondering if its twisted, why don't you find out more about the organization, and to say that any church would have a problem with it, if god is present in that church, they should be offering to help!

Sharon ... obviously you missed the point! An organization in which the victims that they serve are primarily a result of Alcohol Related Abuse makes a complete contradiction of there mission when they serve the main thing that keeps them in business! They get plenty of credit for what they do ... however little does the public know about events last year where several of their "Victims" were pulled over by police for being intoxicated! Little do you find out about them allowing one of their "Victims" to stay at the shelter but go out and strip during the evenings to make money! That is wrong ... no matter how you look at it or how you want to try and justify it! Seems that you really have know knowledge of the organization or otherwise you might question some of these practices! As far as your response about churches ... again your ignorance has clouded your judgement on that issue. It is not wrong to solicit the help of local churches ... however when you do that and then also go behind and serve alcohol at your events that is a conflict of interest no matter how you look at it. I don't mind supporting an organization that helps victims like they do however when you operate on a double standard then I do have a problem with it. If the state knew about some of these issues they could loose funding! Maybe someone needs to give the state a clue. I think that it could be handled on the local level if people wouldn't be so clueless and question how it is being run! When my tax dollars go towards their mission then it is my right to question their practices!

I always welcome the opportunity to address any concerns the community may have regarding our programs or our practices.
I would however like to correct a few of the myths that are common about domestic violence and substance abuse. Domestic violence is about the power and control of the victim. Those who abuse their intimate partners justify their behavior when they drink alcohol and minimize their responsibility for their actions. Statistically, most of those who come to services both at Peace Place and at shelters across the United States are NOT there because of substance abuse by their partner or themselves, but because of Power and Control. Victim's who identify substance abuse issues in their partners represent approximately 30% of those we serve.
To address the issue with our faith based organization, and their knowledge of the practice of having a cash bar at our annual fundraiser, we have two representative pastors that serve on our board. We also have many churches that volunteer on a more that regular basis and are aware of our annual fundraiser as we have had it for the past 10 years and have always had a cash bar. Peace Place depends on our community and have been very blessed and are thankful to the many churches and organizations that support our programming.

Many domestic violence programs across the state and the nation have these types of events, where a cash bar is present. Furthermore there are no provisions prohibiting such practices in our state and federal standards for our contracts. Therefore, our funding is not in jeopardy. I would like to assure you, that my Board of Director's and myself take our stewardship very seriously and would in no means jeorpordize our contracts.

If you have any further concerns, I would like the opportunity to address them and you may contact me at your earliest convenience at peaceplace@peaceplaceinc.org.

Our society is sick when a man abuses a woman or a woman abuses a man. Let alone abuses a child.

Peace Place = a blessing to those in need.

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